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Myanmar Government Taken Over By Military; Mass Arrests In Russian Protests; Defining Today's Republican Party; Californian Hospitalizations Decrease But More Covered Variants Detected; 95,000 Deaths In January In The U.S. From COVID; Republicans At White House Today To Negotiate COVID Package; Exclusive CNN Interview: Ryu Hyeon- Woo, Defected North Korean Diplomat; Myanmar Military Seizes Power in Coup; Brazil Unable to Contain Outbreak Amid Vaccine Shortage; W.H.O. Team Visits Wuhan Market Where COVID First Found; GameStop Bubble Has Not Burst. Aired 1-2a ET

Aired February 01, 2021 - 01:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

[01:00:00]

CNN VOICE OVER: This is CNN BREAKING NEWS.

MICHAEL HOLMES, ANCHOR, CNN NEWSROOM: Hello, and welcome to our viewers here in the United States and all around the world. I'm Michael Holmes.

And we will be bringing you all the latest from Washington on the coronavirus relief negotiations after the deadliest month in the pandemic so far.

But first, I want to bring you up to date on the breaking news in Myanmar. The military there seizing power in a coup against the democratically elected government.

In an early morning raid, the military detained Aung San Suu Kyi and other senior government leaders for what it called election fraud. The military also detaining a member of parliament and declaring a one-year state of emergency.

The White House has warned, quote --

"The United States opposes any attempt to alter the outcome of recent elections or impede Myanmar's democratic transition, and will take actions against those responsible if these steps are not reversed."

CNN's Will Ripley joins me now from Hong Kong with more.

There are those saying that this is a violation of a constitution the military actually helped write and just days ago said it would abide by.

What are you hearing, what's the latest?

WILL RIPLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It's extraordinary, Michael, to think that this civilian government came into power just five years ago, led by Aung San Suu Kyi who, for so many years, was this kind of darling of the movement for freedom and democracy around the world.

Because she was kept in house arrest on and off for 20 years but the same military that has now once again detained her after she was at the United Nations defending their actions against Rohingya Muslims, defending the military against accusations of genocide saying that their actions were actually justified.

This, of course -- there are deep ethnic and religious divisions inside Myanmar. And Aung San Suu Kyi was essentially condoning what has been called the rape and murder of hundreds of thousands of men and women who were forced out of Myanmar into Bangladesh, saying that it was actually Rohingya militants who were to blame.

So people who watched her for so many decades -- she won the Nobel peace prize in 1991 -- saw this kind of fall from grace. And they saw her fall in line with the military leaders who still held a lot of control inside this government, even though they did hold this election in November.

But the military was extraordinarily disappointed with the fact that the National League for Democracy Party led by Aung San Suu Kyi got 396 seats in parliament while their proxy party just got 33. They started making allegations of widespread election fraud.

They claimed as many as ten-and-a-half million votes could be fraudulent. They demanded that the country investigate and look into how they could've gotten so few seats. And the election officials inside Myanmar said they looked into it and there was no evidence of this kind of widespread voter fraud.

So on the day that the government was supposed to form, they took control. Essentially, kind of shattering this illusion that civilians actually had a whole lot of control in the government in the first place.

HOLMES: When it comes -- you mentioned a very important point. That is the shine has sort of worn out a little bit on Aung San Suu Kyi when it comes to what has happened to the Rohingya people.

How is she regarded inside Myanmar, 80 percent of the seats were won by her party. Is she still highly regarded within the country?

RIPLEY: Inside the country her popularity is extremely high. Keep in mind, she was the opposition leader for many years, the son of a famous hero who helped liberate Myanmar from Japan and then was assassinated. So she had this iconic name.

Again, 15 years of being kept in her house with almost no contact with the outside world aside from an occasional radio broadcast. And yet, there were people writing songs about her out in the outside world and people rallying for her release.

But when she became the leader of the country she started to play politics, some have said. And it's a fact that Myanmar is deeply divided along ethnic and religious lines. And for most of the voters who are Buddhist, there's a lot of disdain if not outright hatred for the Rohingya Muslims. They were happy to see them cleared out of their villages and forced to these refugee camps in Bangladesh.

So her actions, while largely condemned on the global stage, were celebrated at home.

[01:05:00]

Which may have been why her party won so many more seats in this most recent election, that the government that she was defending at the U.N. has now essentially snatched away from the people who voted those civilian leaders. With now a general in the top spot and a years-long state of emergency to come.

HOLMES: Yes. Tense times. Will Ripley in Hong Kong. Appreciate it. Thanks for joining us there following the story for us.

Now the U.S. has just suffered its deadliest month from COVID-19 since the pandemic began. More than 95,000 deaths were confirmed in January. Far more than the previous record high, which was just the month before in December.

This coming as the U.S. is seeing more cases of the variant first detected in the U.K.

One expert warning that strain could make the crisis even worse.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAEL OSTERHOLM, CENTER FOR INFECTIOUS DISEASE RESEARCH & POLICY, UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA: The surge that is likely to occur with this new variant from England is going to happen in the next six to fourteen weeks.

And if we see that happen, which my 45 years in the trenches tell us we will, we're going to see something like we have not seen yet in this country.

England, for example, is hospitalizing twice as many people as we ever hospitalized at our highest number. That hurricane's coming.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: A former FDA commissioner says Southern California is one of the places most at risk from that mutation of the virus. And that is because it is already one of the biggest U.S. hotspots.

Despite that, California is seeing some reason for optimism. Here's Paul Vercammen.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PAUL VERCAMMEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Paul Vercammen on the campus of Calstate North Ridge University where they had 2,400 appointments for vaccinations, the Pfizer vaccination, first one, on Sunday. And things seemed to move swimmingly.

We also got good news at the same time from L.A. County. We cannot definitively say that there was not a gap in reporting the numbers but we saw a drop in the number of cases by about 1,000, a huge plunge in the number of deaths and we also saw a drop of 1,600 hospitalizations.

This seemed to be the reason why L.A. County officials were so optimistic and eased up on some of the restrictions.

Now back here at North Ridge we saw mostly senior citizens getting their first shot. They were ecstatic.

Never has anybody felt so happy to be stuck by a needle, I would imagine.

UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: I didn't even feel it. In fact, I'm not even sure she gave me the shot, I didn't feel a thing. So. It was as smooth as could be and everybody knew their role, everybody's cheerful, pleasant. So it's boom, boom.

RIPLEY: This is one of give sites where they have to give 2,400 vaccinations a day. That would be seven days a week by Los Angeles County. And this is a lot better scenario than what we saw just a short time ago, where it was much more chaotic.

VERCAMMEN (On Camera): Reporting from North Ridge, I'm Paul Vercammen. Now back to you. Michael.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: Paul Vercammen, we appreciate it. Thank you.

Now 10 U.S. Senate Republicans are meeting with President Biden on Monday to discuss the latest coronavirus relief package.

Over the weekend, they pitched a much more scaled down version of the president's nearly $2 trillion plan.

CNN's Arlette Saenz with details from Washington.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: The White House is indicating that they are open to negotiating with Senate Republicans on that $1.9 trillion COVID relief package.

Republican senators over the weekend introduced their own proposal which was much smaller in scale. About $600 billion in funding compared to that almost $2 trillion bill from the president.

One thing that they're pushing for is more targeted checks to go out to American families who need it most.

Now a senior administration official said that $600 billion price tag is not going to scratch the itch of what they need to accomplish but one area where they are willing to negotiate, and have discussions, are those targeted checks to American families.

Right now, the White House is pushing for $1,400 checks to go out to American families while one Republican senator suggested they can go down to 1,000.

Now one question going forward is how long President Biden will give these Republicans to negotiate.

The president has also made his preference clear that he wants to pursue this in a bipartisan manner but he has left open the possibility of moving this without Republican support. He is adamant that he wants action on this measure fast.

SAENZ (On Camera): Arlette Saenz, CNN, the White House.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: Now with just about a week to go before Donald Trump's historic second impeachment trial begins in the senate, the former president announced that two new lawyers will head his legal team.

He's been struggling, of course, to find attorneys willing to take on his case.

CNN reported that five members of his impeachment defense team quit this weekend after falling out over legal strategy.

[01:10:00]

They wanted to focus on the constitutionality of convicting a former president but Trump wants to use his disproven election fraud claims as a defense.

Here is why one legal expert says it's not a good idea.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BEN GINSBERG, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: I think the wildcard in this is whether Donald Trump does insist on trying to make his case for election fraud. Which, if he does, will make senators very, very nervous.

He basically has been told in the senate vote that he's going to win if it's just a challenge to the constitutionality of putting a former president on trial but his apparent desire to interject the wild card of trying to make his unmakeable election fraud case, it's a totally new dimension.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: Meanwhile, one Republican lawmaker is pushing back on the party's continued allegiance to Mr. Trump.

Adam Kinzinger has launched a new action committee to battle what he calls, quote --

-- "poisonous conspiracies and lies that defined Trump's presidency."

In a new video, Kinzinger says the Republican Party has lost its way. But so, far not much support for him.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. ADAM KINZINGER (R-ILL): Imagine everybody that supported you, or so it seems that way, your friends, your family, has turned against you. They think you're selling out.

I've gotten a letter, a certified letter, twice from the same people disowning me and claiming I'm possessed by the devil.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: Doug Heye is a Republican strategist and former RNC communications director. He joins me now. Good to see you, Doug.

HOLMES: OK. Let's start with why is the GOP leadership so quiet in the face of the likes of Marjory Taylor Greene and others for that matter? In her case, somebody who's been so damaging, why the silence at the top?

DOUG HEYE, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: There are two simple reasons. One, they're scared of the feedback that they're getting from their members which is not positive or feedback they're not getting from their members because their members are scared of the feedback that they're getting from their primary voters.

And one thing about Trump supporters, they don't go quietly into that good night. They are loud, they're vocal and their members hear from them.

I tell you, Michael, I heard so many stories from members of congress on emails and text messages they get from their donors, from supporters, who say they are not doing enough for Donald Trump and have said this over and over again. And really, in unkind words.

So they're reacting directly towards their base.

HOLMES: But --

HEYE: I don't think that's a positive thing but that's the political reality right now.

HOLMES: Then you have the house minority leader, McCarthy, going to Mar-a-Lago to meet with Donald Trump? There's all this talk, as you say, of keeping the base on side. But

Trump lost the house, he lost the senate, he lost the White House, why this continuing fealty?

And we've got the photo of McCarthy and Trump in the gilded room. Why this fealty?

HEYE: Well, I think because the one thing Donald Trump hasn't lost -- he has lost a lot, no doubt about it -- is he hasn't lost the core base Trump vote which is really dominant in the GOP right now.

And look, there are problems with that. And one I would point out to you is that in my home state of North Carolina, about 5,800 Republicans have left the party, they've changed their registration to unaffiliated. And if you're making those kinds of political decisions in January of an off year, you're pretty angry about things.

That's obviously long-term not sustainable for Republicans.

The other, as I point out, some recent electoral history. Where we've nominated terrible, terrible candidates who cause a lot of problems for Republicans like a Todd Akin in Missouri and Richard Mourdock in Indiana. Candidates who got a lot of national attention for terrible comments they made, and ultimately lost.

Sharron Angle and Christine O'Donnell back in 2010, two senate seats that we should have picked up in Nevada and Delaware, but we didn't. That also helped define Republicans negatively. So we've lost those seats, we get defined negatively.

And it's obviously a parallel to a lot of what we're seeing right now. Marjory Taylor Greene can define what Republicanism is, I think, to a lot of independent voters and even a lot of Republicans who are leaving the party. That's dangerous (inaudible).

HOLMES: The problem is that when -- there are risks in maintaining fealty to one man, especially since he's out of office. It is an extraordinary sort of eggs-in-one-basket situation.

If you had to think of the next party leader or figurehead right now, it's hard to do that. It is a one-man party. There are a lot of risks in that.

HEYE: There sure are. And obviously, we've seen them play out over the past few weeks, and obviously on January the 6th.

And the take away from me that I think is so critical on this is an interview that Jonathan Swan of Axios did with Ukrainian President Zelensky today where he said it's hard to look at America as that beacon of democracy. It's what we've held ourselves up to be for basically almost 250 years now.

[01:15:00]

We clearly have fallen short in the past few weeks and the world is watching.

Myanmar is another country where they're dealing with issues like this where the United States is supposed to serve as an example.

And what we've seen from the Republican party just over the last few weeks, much less the four years, really has fallen short.

HOLMES: We've got less than a minute but I just want to ask you. You have Representative Kinzinger, one of 10 Republicans to vote to impeach Trump. He's launched a new political committee to challenge the Trump wings of the caucus itself, stand up.

Do you, real quick, do you think that has legs?

HEYE: I sure hope it does. Look, those 10 members stuck their neck out to do the right thing and they're paying some political price.

Adam Kinzinger is one of our best and brightest and smartest and youngest Republican house members. We need a lot more like him. And I'm one who would sign on anything that Adam Kinzinger wants to do because it's usually a pretty good idea.

Doug Heye, always a pleasure. Good to get you on. Thank you.

HEYE: Thank you.

HOLMES: We'll take a quick break. When we come back here on the program.

Thousands of Russians are braving police crackdowns to rally in the streets. Why they're so fired up. That's ahead.

And also, our exclusive one with a defector -- a defected North Korean diplomat. How he predicts Kim Jong-un will react to a less accommodating U.S. president.

We'll be right back.

(100 CLUB)

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(Sound of piano playing)

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NARRATOR: In 1877, they began partnerships with universities.

BERGER: They very early worked to have relationships through their dealer network with various musical schools, conservatories. And because of that, the name Steinway was there very early.

NARRATOR: In a world of increasing automation, each instrument is still crafted by hand, even as the company embraces digital technology.

And in 2015 their Spirio system ushered in a keyless era for their pianos.

Finding the harmony between adaptation and upholding tradition is what those here say will drive the brand into the next century.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[01:20:00]

HOLMES: A Russian watchdog group says police detained more than 5,000 protesters on Sunday, a record number.

Crowds of people marching in demonstrations across the country and the growing unrest obviously making the Kremlin nervous.

The protesters demanding the release of jailed opposition leader, Alexey Navalny. But that is not all they want.

Fred Pleitgen reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SNR. INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Russian security forces showing no mercy, cracking down on protesters demanding the release of opposition leader, Alexey Navalny.

But some telling us they want more fundamental changes in Russia.

"I came here today not only because of Navalny," this man says. "I think it's more because of the lack of freedom and because of this demonstrative lawlessness that's going on."

UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: I want a free election. I want change in our government.

PLEITGEN: Independent monitoring group, OVD-info, says thousands were detained across Russia.

Many protesters but also some journalists, including briefly, me.

UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: Sorry, sorry. All right, all right. It's OK. It's OK.

PLEITGEN: While I was released after a few minutes, many others were not so lucky.

The U.S. Sectary of State condemned what he called harsh tactics against protestors and journalists.

Riot cops often wielding clubs and in some cases, even tasers, like in this troubling video from Moscow.

But as the protesters marched through the Russian capital, many motorists honked their horns in apparent support as they drove past.

(Cars honking)

PLEITGEN: Alexei Navalny, whose appeal for release from detention was denied this past week called for the nationwide protests. Vladimir Putin's government reacted swiftly in an unprecedented move

shutting down large parts of central Moscow including 10 subway stops in an effort to stop the protests which authorities say are unsanctioned.

But people came out in masses across this vast country, often braving freezing temperatures like in Yekaterinburg and often faced with a harsh police response like in St. Petersburg, where OVD-info says hundreds were detained.

CROWD: (Chant)

PLEITGEN: "Release, release," they chanted, referring to Alexei Navalny.

Navalny remains in detention and faces another court hearing this week. Locked away but not silenced as many of his supporters have vowed to continue their action.

PLEITGEN (Voice Over): Fred Pleitgen, CNN, Moscow.

HOLMES: A winter storm on the U.S. East Coast has forced presidential Joe Biden to postpone his plans to visit the state department on Monday for a speech on foreign policy.

But it is widely expected that he will take a very different approach internationally than his predecessor, particularly when it comes to north Korea.

CNN's Paula Hancocks joins me now live from Seoul.

And Paula, you spoke exclusively with a high-level North Korean diplomat that recently defected.

Tell us about it.

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Michael, yes.

This is a defector who came here back in 2019 but news of it only emerged just in the last week.

Now he spoke first to CNN. He did offer some words of advice for U.S. president, Joe Biden, but he also pointed out how worried he was for the safety of his family.

Ryu Hyeon-Woo told his teenage daughter he'd drive her to school. Instead, he drove to the north Korean embassy and claimed asylum.

RYU HYEON-WOO, FORMER NORTH KOREAN DIPLOMAT (Through Translator): I told her come with mom and dad to find freedom. She was shocked and then said OK. That's all she said.

HANCOCKS: Ryu was acting North Korean ambassador for Kuwait until he defected in September 2019. Part of the North Korean elite, a privileged diplomat, of a country that touts itself as a socialist paradise. It was a life that him and his wife were desperate to save their daughter from.

In his first ever interview, Ryu reveals how agonizing the decision was to make. His voice cracks when he thinks of his 83-year-old mother, his wife's elderly parents and his siblings all back in Pyongyang.

HYEON-WOO (Through Translator): I just want to see them live long. Any thought of them being punished for what I've done just hurt my heart.

HANCOCKS: North Korea under Kim Jong-un has had a policy of punishing the families of defectors, a deterrent for those wanting to flee and lifelong guilt for those who escape.

Ryu says he watched the 2018 summit between then U.S. President Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un while in Kuwait.

HYEON-WOO (Through Translator): As a diplomat, I thought this might be a political photo op.

[01:25:00]

The U.S. can't back down from denuclearization and Kim Jong-un cannot denuclearize.

North Korea's nuclear power is directly linked to the stability of the regime. I can't imagine they'd abolish this.

HANCOCKS: As for advice for President Joe Biden, Ryu demurs citing Biden's lengthy foreign policy experience. But he does believe that North Korea will only consider reducing nuclear weapons, not giving them up completely. All while being accepted as a nuclear state.

HANCOCKS: What does Kim Jong-un want from President Biden?

HYEON-WOO (Through Translator): I think he wants the U.S. to lift sanctions.

HANCOCKS: A move Ryu does not think should happen. He also wants the issue of human rights to be an important part of Biden's North Korean policy.

He sees Biden's previous nuclear deal with Iran as a sign of hope for dealing with North Korea.

But he does offer a reality check.

HYEON-WOO (Through Translator): North Korea's going to be more difficult than Iran.

HANCOCKS: Now although Ryu is heartbroken by the fact he had to leave family behind, he's very concerned for his family that's left back in North Korea. But he did say that he and his wife believe they have done the right thing for their daughter.

He also said that the other day he asked her what she likes about South Korea. The one thing she said that was the best was the fact that she could use the internet whenever she wanted.

Something that many of us around the world take for granted. But certainly not something that any except for the top elite is able to do in North Korea.

Michael.

HOLMES: Really fascinating stuff. Paula, thanks so much. Paula Hancocks there in Seoul.

Now Ukraine's president speaking out about that phone call within then president Donald Trump, the 2/2019 conversation when Trump asking him to open an investigation into his political rival, Joe Biden's son, Hunter Biden.

Vladimir Zelensky said he was offended to hear the media say he was pressured as Ukraine is an independent country. Mr. Zelensky added that he felt it was inappropriate that the conversation was made public.

Coming up next here on CNN NEWSROOM.

More on our breaking news. The military coup in Myanmar. Aung San Suu Kyi and other party leaders have been detained.

We'll have details when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[01:30:49]

MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: And Returning now to our top story.

Myanmar's military has seized power in a coup against the democratically-elected government there. Soldiers, surrounding city hall in the country's main city, Yangon, the army declaring a one-year state of emergency.

The military detained Aung San Suu Kyi and other party leaders in a raid on Monday morning. Now, the army claims the results of November's election are fraudulent. There are now reports of widespread Internet and telecoms disruptions in Myanmar.

Yanghee Lee, a former U.N. special rapporteur on Myanmar, joins us now. And thanks for doing so.

What do you think is -- why -- behind why the military acted? Why do this? Why do it now? What possible justification?

YANGHEE LEE, FORMER U.N. SPECIAL RAPPORTEUR ON MYANMAR: Well, as you know, that Min Aung Hlaing, the commander in chief, his power will end in June. He will have step down.

And the military has already said that they will be finding another commander in chief. And currently, Min Aung Hlaing exerts a lot of economic power. He and his cronies have invested a lot, and they have lots of foreign investment. And this would be the best time because he is desperate now to keep his economic holdings on Myanmar. And he is desperate to stay in power because otherwise, he will have to face charges within the international court -- the international court of justice and other international courts.

HOLMES: Which would be an extraordinary thing if that were the case. I mean that is incredible self dealing, and bringing down a nascent democracy for that self interest.

In many ways, the military never took its hands off the levers of power. I'm curious what you think the damage is to Myanmar's democratic future by this?

LEE: Absolutely. Min Aung Hlaing never had the future or the present Myanmar, the people's interest at heart. This dreadful event will definitely hamper the democratic process of Myanmar. We've seen a little bit of transitioning into a democracy, nevertheless Aung San Suu Kyi never did fulfill her campaign promises of 2012 to ensure that there will be a democratic transition.

But this will really hamper the lives of the people of Myanmar. And all of the ethnic communities as well.

HOLMES: You know, I think the last time the military took power in the Myanmar, elections didn't happen for another 20 years. What do you think could be the risks here going forward? And what does the international community have to do?

LEE: Well, the elections just took place. And so this is really mind- boggling. How Min Aung Hlaing can actually pull a stunt like this.

He's able to pull a stunt like this with the endorsement of the two big brothers -- Soviet Union and China. He has been lauded with prizes in recognition in Russia. And in the January 12th, Chinese and the military had a formal meeting discussing the voter fraud in Myanmar.

The international community needs to act now. The international community needs to cut all relations with Myanmar, in terms of the military businesses. And targeted sanctions, resume or reinstate bilateral sanctions with military holdings.

[01:34:52]

LEE: But most of all, the Security Council must convene immediately, and send in a delegation of observers immediately before the situation goes out of hand.

HOLMES: And just finally and briefly Aung San Suu Kyi was so highly regarded internationally for her fight for democracy for so many years. But in recent years, that shine has worn off a little bit over her, you know, defense of the military and what was wrought upon the country's Rohingya people.

Is she still somebody who you think is the right person to lead the country if the military does allow elections? Lee: Well, I have to remind you and the audience, that under her

watch, atrocities occurred. A genocide occurred in Rakhine State, crimes against humanity occurred across other ethnic states. Human rights violations and abuses were rampant through this administration.

The government and the international community should support the people's will. The people had voted, the majority, vast majority, voted for NLD. And I think that is where the current state, and the current focus, should be on, the NLD.

I'm not going to say anything more about their leader, because Aung San Suu Kyi ahs proven that under her watch, so much atrocities have happened.

HOLMES: Fascinating. And thank you so much, Yanghee Li in Seoul. Appreciate you joining us. Thank you.

LEE: Thank you for having me.

HOLMES: All right. Asia-Pacific leaders are expressing alarm.

Australia's prime minister said the coup was a disturbing development. The foreign minister calling on the military to respect the rule of law, and release all who have been detained.

Japan's chief cabinet secretary said the government is watching the situation and will do everything to protect the safety of Japanese citizens in the area.

And the U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres said the coup was a, quote, "serious blow to democratic reforms" and he urged all leaders to refrain from violence.

Now, Brazil's COVID outbreak remains one of the worst in the world. And the slow vaccine rollout is doing little to improve the crisis.

Ahead what officials plan to do about it.

And the World Health Organization team expands its coronavirus investigation in Wuhan. When we come back, a live report on their visit to a market at the center of the outbreak.

[01:37:37]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: Brazil is expected to receive at least 10 million COVID doses from the drug maker, AstraZeneca. The doses will reportedly start arriving mid-February through the World Health Organization's COVAX program.

As CNN's Matt Rivers reports, the news comes as hospitals there are dealing with an overwhelming number of COVID patients.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) MATT RIVERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Some of Sao Paulo's sickest come here, the COVID-19 ward at Emilio Ribas Institute of Infectious Disease.

Here a man struggles for air that won't come. He is put under and intubated and no one knows if he'll survive. Nurse Monica Aparecida Calazans (ph) tries to make sure he does.

She says "I've already lost eight of my colleagues to COVID. It's such a cruel disease."

And yet, in a way, she is lucky, because in mid-January Calazans became the first Brazilian to receive a vaccine. No small feat given that Brazil's vaccine rollout is a mess.

As hospitals across the country overflow with COVID-19 patients only about one million doses had been administered, a stunningly low number given Brazil's decades-long success in vaccinating its population.

(on camera): You've got the infrastructure, the experience, but you don't have the product to get people vaccinated.

NATALIA PASTERNAK, MICROBIOLOGIST: It is really frustrating. We've got everything. We just needed a better president and a better minister of health.

RIVERS (voice over): President Jair Bolsonaro has been widely- criticized for not securing vaccine supplies earlier, spreading misinformation that could undermine confidence in taking the vaccine.

He said quote, "If you become alligator that's your problem. If you are a woman that grows a beard or a man's voice becomes high-pitched I have nothing to do with that."

Though he argues no country would quote "do better than my government is doing", Brazil has the second highest coronavirus death toll worldwide. And as we saw in the city Manaus last week, health systems have collapsed across the country.

A deal with AstraZeneca to manufacture 100 million doses of that vaccine in Brazil by July has yet to produce a single dose. There's tentative agreements to buy hundreds of millions of other doses but no one knows when or if they will arrive. That's led some to take drastic action.

Sao Paulo's state Governor Joao Doria tells us he went around the Bolsonaro administration last year and negotiated with China directly for supplies of the Sinovac vaccine. He secured millions of doses only to be forced to turn over those supplies to the federal government.

JOAO DORIA, GOVERNOR, SAO PAULO: It was a big mistake after Bolsonaro got me to choose just one vaccine, THE AstraZeneca vaccine. And not three, four or five vaccines.

RIVERS: Bolsonaro has said Brazil would buy more vaccines as they become quote "available in the market". But who knows when that will be given the current worldwide demand.

(on camera): It brought many Brazilians livid with protests like this one becoming more and more common. They're seeing surging case numbers, a new potentially more transmissible COVID variant, and a pandemic that has no end in sight all because the say of an inept federal government.

(voice over): Back at the COVID ward it is easy to see why they are angry. We are told that this woman is now brain dead, kept alive by machines. Her family will have to decide when to give the go ahead to shut them off. Another death that might have been prevented with a vaccine.

Matt Rivers, CNN -- Sao Paulo, Brazil.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: Now, a team led by the World Health Organization has visited a seafood market in Wuhan, China where COVID-19, of course, was first detected. The market has long been close to the public.

The W.H.O. team plans to conduct two weeks of fieldwork as part of their investigation into the origins of the virus.

For more, we're joined by Steven Jiang, CNN senior producer in Beijing. What have they found? What are they looking for? And what sort of access are they getting?

[01:44:59]

STEVEN JIANG, CNN SENIOR PRODUCER: Well Michael, that was the one big question a lot of people had even before this mission began. But so far, these experts have been highlighting the positive and encouraging signs and aspects from either trip, including that visit you just mentioned to the seafood market.

Now it has long been closed as we mentioned and has been repeatedly disinfected and sanitized. So there are a lot of doubts what kind of information, what kind of evidence they could collect from that place at this point.

But these experts said even though, you know, they are now visiting a year after its closure, it still actually gave them a very good sense in terms of the state of the market, in terms of its infrastructure, maintenance, hygiene and the flow of goods and people because all the shops and the equipment are still there.

And they were able to talk to locals and workers as well as public health officials who actually were there collecting environmental samples. So these officials were able to tell the experts where and how they collected these samples.

And the members of the W.H.O. team also said they have been given important data regarding flu-like diseases in and around Hubei Province in the months leading up to December 2019. And this data, of course, could offer them potential clues in terms of any connections between influenza and the COVID outbreak.

Now, some members did note they wish, in the coming days, their visits could be in smaller groups because they say it has been very challenging to build up relationships with their interviewees within a very short timeframe when you have 50 or so people sitting around listening.

But still, these scientists, of course, they're keenly aware their entire investigation is under a global spotlight. Their every move, their every visit have been very much watched closely.

So that's why they keep insisting they are scientists not politicians. Their focus is entirely on the science. But it seems it's just sometimes impossible to keep politics out of their agenda.

One of the stops they made, Michael, last Saturday was this exhibition, touting the success of the ruling Chinese Communist Party in containing this virus within Wuhan and within the country, Michael.

HOLMES: All right. Steven Jiang there in Beijing. Appreciate it. Good to see you. Thanks for joining us.

Now, we're going to going to take a quick break. When we come back, GameStop's wild ride not over yet. After an eventful week on Wall Street, the company's stock is still up as amateur investors set their sights on new markets to conquer.

We'll discuss.

[01:47:23]

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HOLMES: Welcome back.

Wall Street enters a new trading week with a cautious eye on retail traders. Investors on Reddit's WallStreetBets app, targeting silver now. Silver futures surged as much as 8.5 percent on Sunday.

And the bubble has not yet burst for GameStop. After the so-called Reddit rebellion, pitting hedge funds against retail investors, the stock is still up more than 69 percent as you can see there.

U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren admits she doesn't know who is right or wrong in the GameStop saga. So she is calling for the Securities and Exchange Commission to make sure no group of investors is manipulating the market.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SENATOR ELIZABETH WARREN (D-MA): What is happening with GameStop is just a reminder of what has been going on on Wall Street now for years and years and years. It's a rigged game. They've turned the stock market not into a place where you get capital formation to support businesses, but more into a casino. And they've been doing all kinds of market manipulation -- pump and dump, companies that buyback shares of their own stock so that they can inflate the stock prices.

We need a market that is transparent, that is level, and that is open to individual investors. It's time for the SEC to get off their duffs and do their jobs.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: Matt Stoller is the director of research at the American Economic Liberties Project, and the author of "Goliath: the 100-year war between monopoly, power, and democracy".

Matt, great to get you on for this. I mean so much noise from Wall Street about what happened but was this just a case of ordinary folks playing the same rules as the hedge fund titans? Instead of insider trading, it was outsider trading? Is that what -- what's your read?

MATT STOLLER, DIRECTOR OF RESEARCH, AMERICAN ECONOMIC LIBERTIES PROJECT: I'm not -- it's not totally clear because we don't know who was on the message board. We don't know who is seeding information. But what we do know is that there is a lot of that's going on both ways with a lot of borrowed money.

And it's fun to watch, but it basically reflects a disillusionment that most people have with Wall Street which is why people want to think it's a little guy kind of rigging the market against the cheaters who are trying to push these stocks down.

HOLMES: In some ways, does this mean that the game has changed in some ways? That the big boys -- the suits -- are they worried?

STOLLER: I don't think so. I think this reflects a basic corruption of our society and a corruption of our financial markets. It is exposing that the markets are rigged. It's not -- but this is -- I don't think this is some sort of revolution in which the suits are getting, you know -- are getting pushed out.

I mean saying everybody should have the right to cheat on equal terms isn't actually going to establish fair markets for everyone.

HOLMES: Yes. Yes. Bernie sanders, I think, tweeted something like you know, the rules on Wall Street are, you know, that it's basically corrupt.

I mean I guess one of the real questions is, why are the hedge funds allowed to short the way they did with GameStop? Why is that -- I was going to say irresponsible but illegal -- I mean why is that a thing?

STOLLER: Well, you have a broader problem, which is that you have a bunch of funds who borrow a ton of money and then they bet on stocks one way or the other. And they talk the stocks up or they talk those stocks down, and they do it on channels like CNBC. They do it through the newspaper. They also do it on message boards.

[01:54:52]

STOLLER: It's what's called pump and dump operations. And it should be illegal. It is in fact illegal. And the Securities and Exchange Commission should be stepping in and doing their job. A lot of the problem that we're seeing is for the last 15 years, ever since the financial crisis, but going through, you know, Puerto Rican bonds, Argentine bonds, the flash crash, any number of other examples.

There just -- there have been no cops there. There's no one on the beat. So the laws don't seem to apply to the powerful (ph).

HOLMES: It was interesting how the system, you know, Robinhood app, and other sort of circled the wagons, if you like, around the hedge funds, help protect them from these so called ordinary investors.

You got to wonder why that is ok? And to your point, Senator Elizabeth Warren is calling for an SEC investigation. Should there be one?

STOLLER: Absolutely. I mean we need a congressional investigation as well. What we need to understand is what is happening in our markets. Because I think -- you know, what is important here is to recognize that GameStop is simply one more incident that has taken place over the last 15 years that reflects systemic corruption.

I think that's why people are cheering for the people that are trying to rig the stock to go up. It is still market rigging, right. What Robinhood is doing is still enabling -- still a form of gambling and speculation.

The reason that people are excited about it is because it seems to be saying, this is some way to actually deal with the cheaters. By kind of outcheating them.

But that's not actually the way to address the situation because in the end, cheaters are going to win. What you have to do is you have to drain the poison from Wall Street. You have to start to apply the rule of law there. And start to put some people in jail for cheating, which we haven't been doing for the last 15 to 20 years.

HOLMES: Great points, well made. Matt Stoller, thanks so much. Appreciate it.

STOLLER: Thanks a slot.

HOLMES: And thank you for watching, spending part of your day with me.

I am Michael Holmes. Don't go anywhere though. My colleague Robyn Curnow is very excited to join you with more CNN NEWSROOM after a quick break.

You won't regret it.

[01:56:54]

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